Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Almost a month ago I checked one of the best Mercedes-Benz W126s I’ve ever seen in a Concours-level 1987 560SEL. Today, we have another outstanding 1987 W126 that isn’t quite Pebble Beach-ready, but it is damn close. This car comes to us from South Carolina dressed in Smoke Silver Metallic with the rare burgundy leather interior in a condition that isn’t often seen. And oh yeah, it’s a diesel too.
If you haven’t been paying attention and like the early Scirocco, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a cheap classic. But over the past year several exceptional examples of the first generation Giugiaro coupe have popped up and the result has been sticker shock. For a while it was only the GTI which generated really big numbers, but a niche appreciation for these little 2-doors has sent prices through the roof.
The first shot across the bow was in April 2016, when a pristine and original survivor ’81 with 51,000 miles hit $17,100 after 95 bids:
That was followed in September of this year by two strong but not original examples; the New Dimensions Turbo example brushing up against $15,000:
And the clean resprayed ’80 hit $9,300:
Wild or Mild? Double Take: 1978 and 1980 Volkswagen Sciroccos
But the culmination of these examples was the best I’ve seen yet. It was a massively impressive ‘1978 that appeared throughout near new, and it was no surprise that bidding at the last moment rocketed up to $17,700:
So it was somewhat without surprise that suddenly my filters are full of early Sciroccos. Over the past few weeks, even more examples have hit eBay in what I can presume is an attempt to capitalize on the capital generated by these cars. The same trend happened a few years ago when we saw big numbers on A1 GTIs. So here we go again, this time with a pre-facelift ’77 model in California:
Earlier this week I featured a very pretty Emerald Green 1976 Porsche 930. As I then looked around through other auctions I realized it wasn’t the only early 930 currently up for sale in an interesting color. In fact, there were quite a few. It doesn’t make much sense to feature each individually, as much I might like each one. Thus, roundup time!
These aren’t the only early 930s currently for sale, but they are the ones I thought looked the best. They are a fairly diverse group coming in colors both light and dark, vibrant and subdued, and with mileage ranging from the very low (15,054) to somewhat high (115,826). Three of them are Paint-To-Sample and the one that isn’t comes in one of our favorite colors on Porsches from this period. And we even have both engine sizes represented. None of these are boring.
So without further adieu, let’s take a look at these great machines:
While usually our ‘Double Take’ features look at one model, today I’m going to look at two cars that share a brand, and idea, and a price point. Both of these Audis represent a huge leap forward from their predecessors; versus the front-drive Type 81, the Type 85 B2 was much more modern-feeling, refined and introduced all-wheel drive to the mass market (excusing its bigger brother, and twice as expensive and exotically flared Quattro brethren, of which only 664 sold here) and the C4 S4 introduced the U.S. market to S-cars and merged the 200 20V’s setup with a modern body and more sporty interior along with even a bit more power. Both are legendary in the 4-ringed circles for their longevity. Both have cadres of fans who seek each model out. And both are hard to find in good condition.
So here we go, Alice – red or green pill? For your $6,000 investment, which of these inline-5 all-wheel drive legends would be your choice?
There are plenty of times when I feel like I feature too many very expensive 911s. The problem, of course, is the 911 isn’t a terribly inexpensive car to start with so even the pricing is somewhat relative. But really it’s just that many of these high-priced examples are very hard to pass up. Guess where this one falls? I couldn’t pass it up.
We’re sticking with the theme of interesting colors that we’ve been running with across the site this week and here we have one of Porsche’s most interesting darker shades. This is a Vesuvio Metallic 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera S, located in Cleveland, with a mere 4,848 miles on it. So we have a Carrera S – one of the most desirable 993 models – in a very rare and striking color with ridiculously low mileage. That’s not all. It also came well optioned with sport seats, sport suspension, and the factory aerokit (along with a few other options). The total package makes for an extremely rare 993 and one that should attract tons of attention.
What’s not to love? It’s $170K. That’s A LOT!
